Thursday, 2 February 2017

Battle Report 95- 1500 pts Deathwatch vs Iron Warriors

This week's battle report sees my Deathwatch take on Gareth's Iron Warriors. Gareth was using the new Traitor Legions rules for his Iron Warriors, so I would be interested to see how they played on the tabletop. I had previously played Gareth's Iron Warriors in their 30k incarnation, so would be interested to see how the 40k version fared.

We would be playing the Contact Lost maelstrom mission (one card for each objective you control).

My warlord trait for Artemis was Vigilance Incarnate, allowing me to change the Mission Tactics one more time (so two times in total). My Librarian rolled on the Librarius Discipline and got Emperor's Wrath, Might of Heroes and Fury of the Ancients.

His warlord trait gave his warlord and his unit Split Fire and Counter Attack.

We set up the objectives as shown below. We used Mysterious Objectives in this game, with the initials next to the maelstrom objective number indicating the result of the mysterious objective result when it was rolled.

I won the roll for deployment and chose to go first. I put one unit of Veterans with the Stalker Boltguns in the ruins to the right, while on of the combat squad Veterans went on objective 4 to the left, with the second combat squad in the Rhino with the two Infernus Heavy Bolters. The two units of Bikers went on the right flank to advance on the objectives.

In reply, Gareth set up a unit of Havocs and Chaos Space Marines in the ruins to his left. The two Rhinos carrying the Chosen went next to them, sheltering the Raptors and Chaos Lord behind them. The second Havoc unit went in the middle ruins, supported by the Warpsmith and a single Obliterator. The other three Obliterators went in the trenches to his right, with the second unit of Chaos Space Marines behind the containers. His Warpsmith used his powers to weaken the defences of the ruins that the Stalker Marines were sheltered in, reducing their cover save by 1.

Gareth rolled to seize the initiative and he succeeded!

TURN 1- IRON WARRIORS
In his first turn, Gareth drew Objective 4. Fortunately, that was deep in my deployment zone, so he would be unlikely to get it.

The Rhinos and Chaos Raptors surged forwards to combat the advancing Deathwatch. Other than that, the rest of the Iron Warriors remained in place to bring their impressive firepower to bear on the Emperor's lap dogs.

The Havocs on the left flank opened fire at the Deathwatch opposite them, wounding them 4 times with their Lascannons. Despite the reduced cover save, only one of the Veterans fell. The second unit of Havocs fired at the squad. The remaining Veterans went to ground and only one more perished. One of the Obliterators added their firepower, killing another Veteran with a Plasma Cannon. The squad failed their morale test, fleeing 11".

One of the Obliterators fired at the Rhino, glancing it once, but the cover of the ruins saved the vehicle from harm. Another Obliterator fired at the squad beside the Rhino with a Plasma Cannon. The squad went to ground and were unharmed.

The final Obliterator opened fire on the Deathwatch Bikers, but the jinking riders were saved from harm.

At the end of his turn, Gareth scored no points and discarded Objective 4.

TURN 1- DEATHWATCH
In my first turn, I drew Blood and Guts (kill an enemy unit in the assault phase).

A Drop Pod crashed to the battlefield, landing behind the Rhinos and Raptors. The Veterans inside disembarked to catch the enemy off guard, while the Bikers advanced to join the hunt. On the left flank, the Rhino advanced, turbo-boosting to get into range of the objective.

The Veterans fired their Frag Cannons at the Raptors and Rhinos. The power of the Frag Cannons were enough to destroy the Raptor Squad and Chaos Lord, as well as wrecking one Rhino and penetrating the other. One Chosen squad were forced to disembark, moving into the cover of the nearby Bunker.

The squad of Bikers on the right split their fire between the Chosen and Havocs, killing of the Chosen and two Havocs from the nearby squad.

The other unit of Bikers split their fire between the Rhino and the central Havocs, but failed to cause any harm with their snap shots.

In the assault phase, the Bikers charged the Chosen. The Deathwatch struck at the Chaos troops, killing four of the squad. The remaining Chosen attacked the Deathwatch, killing one.

The second unit of Bikers assaulted the Rhino, easily wrecking it. At the end of the turn, the central sabotaged objective exploded, killing one of the nearby Deathwatch Bikers!

At the end of my turn, I scored a point for Blood and Gut, as well as First Blood and Slay the Warlord.

The Obliterators moved towards the Drop Pod, while the Chosen moved away from the nearby Bikers.

The Havocs opened fire on the Frag Cannon Veterans, killing two of the squad. An Obliterator opened fire on the squad with a Lascannon, but the Storm Shield saved them from harm. The Warpsmith fired his Meltagun at the squad, killing the Storm Shield carrying Sergeant. Two of the Obliterators also fired Lascannons at the squad, killing one more. The Chaos Space Marines added their firepower, wiping out the survivor.

The Chosen turned their Plasma Guns on the Bikers that had destroyed their transport vehicle. The hail of Plasma fire was enough to wipe out the squad despite their jinking.

On the right flank, the final Obliterator fired an Assault Cannon at the Rhino, glancing and penetrating it once and forcing it to snap fire. The second Havoc squad fired at the Veterans on the objective, killing one.

In the assault phase, the combat between the last Chosen Marine and the three Bikers continued. The Deathwatch struck at the Chosen, failing to wound despite scoring 4 hits with their Power Weapons. The Chosen Marine could do nothing in reply, so was locked in combat.

The second Drop Pod arrived, aiming to land next to Objective 2, but scattering to land on the other side of the trenches, the Veterans inside moving out to engage the Iron Warriors. On the other side of the trenches, the Rhino advanced, the Veterans inside disembarking and bringing their weapons to bear.

In the psychic phase, the Librarian fired the Fury of the Ancients down the trench line. The Chaos Space Marines and Obliterators managed to avoid the beam, but two of the Havocs fell to the attack. The Havocs failed their morale test and fell back. He then cast Might of Heroes on himself.

In the shooting phase, the Veterans from the Drop Pod fired their Shotguns at the Chaos in front of them, killing one. The Veterans on the other side fired at the Chaos Space Marines. Their Infernus Heavy Bolters killed one, while the squad's Bolters killed another. The two survivors passed their morale test.

In the assault between the Bikers and the Chosen, it was fought to a stalemate once again as both sides failed to wound.

At the end of my turn, I scored Objective 4 and Objective 5.

VICTORY POINTS:
Iron Warriors- 0
Deathwatch- 5

TURN 3- IRON WARRIORS
In turn 3, Gareth drew Supremacy (hold 2 objectives and at least twice as many as your opponent) and had Witchhunter from last turn.

The Havocs failed to rally and fell back from the battlefield. The Obliterators moved up towards Artemis and his squad, while the Warpsmith moved towards the enemy Drop Pod. On the left flank, the Chaos Space Marines moved through the ruins and advanced.

The Chosen fired their Plasma guns at the Veterans beside the Rhino, easily wiping out the squad.

The Chaos Space Marines fired their Bolters at Artemis' squad, killing one of the Veterans. Two of the Obliterators fired Plasma Cannons at the Veterans. One cannon hit, wounding once, but the shot was saved. The second shot hit the Veterans, wounding them four times, but all wounds were blocked by the Veteran carrying the Storm Shield.

Another Obliterator fired an Assault Cannon at the Drop Pod, but failed to do any harm. The final Obliterator fired a Lascannon at the Rhino, but missed with its shot.

The Warpsmith fired his Meltagun at the Drop Pod, penetrating it and destroying it utterly in a devastating explosion.

The Havocs fired their Lascannons at the squad beside Objective 4, killin gone of the squad.

In the assault phase, the Bikers finally managed to take down the last of the Chosen, consolidating into the wreck of the Rhino.

At the end of his turn, Gareth scored no points and discarded Supremacy.

TURN 3- DEATHWATCH
This turn, I drew Objective 2, No Prisoners (kill an enemy unit) and Harness the Warp (manifest a psychic power), and had Objective 2 from last turn.

The lone Terminator arrived, deep striking near the trenches. The Librarian split from the Veterans to engage the Chaos Space Marines, while Artemis led his squad towards the nearest Obliterator. The Bikers moved up on the Chosen, while the Rhino retreated.

The Librarian cast Fury of the Ancients directed at the Obliterators, but failed to cause any harm. He then cast Might of Heroes on himself.

The Terminator fired his Heavy Flamer at the Chosen, killing two. The Bikers added their firepower to the attack, killing two with their AP3 shells.

Artemis and his unit fired on the Obliterator in front of him, wounding him 3 times, but failing to get past his armour.

The Bikers charged the Chosen, killing one with their Hammer of Wrath attacks. They finished off the survivor with their Power Weapon attacks.

The Librarian charged the Chaos Space Marines, easily wiping them out with his boosted psychic abilities.

Artemis attempted to charge the Obliterators, but the squad failed the charge thanks to the nearby Grav Wave Generator.

At the end of my turn, I scored No Prisoners and Harness the Warp for two points.

VICTORY POINTS:
Iron Warriors- 0
Deathwatch- 7

At the end of turn 3, I was well ahead in maelstrom points, but had lost a lot of my force and was having trouble dealing with the 2+ armour save of the Obliterators.

TURN 4- IRON WARRIORS
This turn, Gareth had Witchhunter and drew no cards.

The Obliterators advanced on the Bikers, while the Warpsmith moved towards the centre of the battlefield. On the left flank, the Chaos Space Marines continued their advance.

The Havocs fired at Artemis' squad, killing two of the Veterans carrying the Shotguns. The Obliterators all opened fire on the Bikers, killing one of the Jinking Bikers.

The Warpsmith fired his Meltagun at the Terminator, slaying him outright.

The Obliterators charged the Bikers, hoping to do with their fists what their potent firepower had failed to do. The Bikers struck at the Obliterators, but failed to get past their armour. The Chaos troops wiped out the Deathwatch in reply.

At the end of his turn, Gareth scored no points.

TURN 4- DEATHWATCH
In my turn, I drew Objective 3, Objective 3, Assassinate (kill an enemy character), Domination (control all the objectives) and had Objective 2 and Objective 2 from last turn.

The Librarian re-joined the Veterans as they advanced on the Objective. The Rhino moved to shield the Veterans in the Deathwatch deployment zone.

The Librarian attempted to cast the Emperor's Wrath and Might of Heroes, but failed to manifest both powers.

The Veterans in the trenches fired at the nearest Obliterator, but failed to cause any damage.

At the end of my turn, I scored Objective 2 twice and discarded Objective 3.

The Obliterators moved up on the Rhino, while the Warpsmith went for the central objective.

The Havocs opened fire at Artemis' squad, but all three missed their shots. An Obliterator fired an Assault Cannon at the Rhino, wrecking it.
The other three Obliterators fired at Artemis' unit, killing one of the squad and wounding the Librarian.

At the end of the turn, Gareth scored no points.

TURN 5- DEATHWATCH
This turn, I drew Objective 5, Recon (discover all the Mysterious objectives), Hungry for Glory (issue a challenge) and had Objective 3, Assassinate and Domination.

Artemis led his unit towards the nearest Obliterator. The Librarian cast Might of Heroes on himself.

The Veterans fired on the Obliterator in front of them, but failed to cause any damage. They then attempted to assault, but failed the charge.

At the end of my turn, I scored Recon and Objective 5, and discarded Domination.

On the left flank, the Chaos Space Marines continued their advance, moving into the ruins sheltering the Deathwatch.

The army then turned their attention to the Deathwatch around them. The Havocs fired on Artemis' squad, killing one of the Veterans.
The Obliterators then opened fire. One targeted Artemis' squad with a Plasma Cannon, but the shot scattered off target, causing no harm. He then fired a Lascannon at the squad, vaporising the Librarian where he stood (the formation rules allowed the Obliterators to fire twice when in range of the Warpsmith). A second Obliterator targeted the squad, killing the last Veteran with a Lascannon shot and killing Artemis outright with a Multi-melta shot.

The other Obliterator fired at the two Veterans in the ruins on the left flank, killing one. The final Obliterator fired at the Drop Pod, penetrating it and forcing it to snap fire.

At the end of his turn, Gareth scored Witchhunter, Slay the Warlord and got three points for Overwhelming Firepower.

That finally put Gareth on the scoreboard. I was still far ahead, but would need to see if I could survive the game with only 4 models remaining.

The remaining Deathwatch moved into the shadows to secure their positions. There was little I could do this turn and I scored no points. I would just have to hope I could hold out.

We rolled to see if the game ended and it did not.

VICTORY POINTS:
Iron Warriors- 5
Deathwatch- 11

TURN 7- IRON WARRIORS
This turn, Gareth had Objective 6 and Blood and Guts (kill a unit in assault).

The Chaos Space Marines made their way through the ruins to get to the lone Stalker Boltgun Marine. The Obliterators moved to engage the Drop Pod, easily destroying it with their firepower.

The Chaos Space Marines fired their pistols at the Deathwatch Marine, but failed to kill him. They then launched an assault. The Deathwatch Marine struck at the traitors, killing one of them. The survivors were able to bring him down.

At the end of his turn, Gareth scored Blood and Guts and Linebreaker.

TURN 7- DEATHWATCH
This turn, I drew Kingslayer and had Supremacy, Hungry for Glory (issue a challenge), Assassinate and Objective 3.

With only two Deathwatch Marines left, there was not much I could do. I scored three points for Kingslayer and the game ended there.

VICTORY POINTS:
Iron Warriors- 7
Deathwatch- 14

A win for the Deathwatch.

AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
Thanks to Gareth for a great game, a lot closer than the score would suggest as I was in real trouble of being tabled.

Overall, I think the plan worked very well. In maelstrom games, I tend to go for the points rather than killing the enemy. As a result, I frequently don't end up with many models on the table, but sometimes it is worth sacrificing units to score points.

As to the game itself, in the first turn, the Frag Cannons of the Deathwatch were amazing. The Template weapons are brilliant, accounting for the Chaos Warlord, the Raptors and a Rhino with one shot. I probably should have gone after the Rhino carrying the Chosen with the Plasma guns rather than the Meltaguns.Those Plasma Guns were brutal in the game. Gareth fired about 30 Plasma Gun shots over the course of the game and didn't suffer a single overheat wound! I wish my Plasma Guns performed that well.

The one thing I did notice in this game was the lack of AP2 weaponry in my army. There was very little I could do to halt the Obliterators or Warpsmith. I wish I would have stuck with Biomancy for the Librarian in this game, as Smite would have proven very useful for taking on the 2+ armour of Gareth's forces.

My Deathwatch force is decent, but I think there are changes to be made when I take them to the Birthday Bash tournament. Next week, I will detail changes that I will be making to the list.

3 comments:

Lucky escape there Mike! I did wonder around turn 3 if your opponent was deliberately playing for the tabling - did he say whether that was his intention? It seems he was a bit unlucky with some of the shooting from his havoc squads early on.

Well done for holding on for the win though - you really could teach a masterclass about playing for the mission objectives!

Thanks Nick!I think towards the end he knew he had to go for the tabling as I was so far ahead on points. I think one of the key issues was getting rid of so much of his mobility on turn 1. Had the Rhinos and Bikes been a bit more spread out, they may have stayed alive longer for grabbing objectives.

Yeah, I tend to always focus on playing the mission. It annoys me when someone says "you didn't really win, as you had only 2 models left and he has most of an army". If I am focusing on the mission, I will gladly sacrifice units if it scores me big. My aim is to win, not have the most men left at the end (that reminds me, I should play my Guard again soon!). Had we been playing a Kill Points game, my tactics would have been very different.